Raiding for newbies
"Raiding" in this article will mean "running instances with 20 or more people". Every successful raiding group has a core of regular attenders. In the "normal" case, all members of a raid are in the same guild, but there are many other methods possible (up to so-called "pug raids"). Invariably after a few runs, either a reliable core group forms, or the raid doesn't take place any more. One problem for newbies (especially guildless newbies) is to find (or create) such a group. In order to facilitate getting a place in a raid, some understanding on how raids function can help. It should be strongly emphasized that this element of the game is most definitely not for everyone. Due to the necessity of reputation grinds, attunement, and other forms of "keying," and the difficulty of amassing a player group of sufficient size, the most difficult raid content will generally not be experienced by more than probably 5% of the entire player base of the game. It has been stated by blizzard representatives on the official forums that this is by design. In order to obtain invitations to raid groups, players therefore not only need to have a very high degree of ability with their chosen class, but also need to be willing and able to play their class in a manner which conforms to the rest of the group's expectations. In other words, if raiding is something you aspire to, you not only need to be a master of your class, but you also need to have mastered the social/political aspect of WoW as well. Golden Rule Raiding is a long term team effort. Thus have patience, and be a good team player. Motivation A common misconception is that raiding is all about epic loot. Unfortunately, there are these pesky end bosses who need a coordinated and determined effort to master them. In reality raiding is about learning the boss encounters. The most happy raid members are those who join a run because they like the challenge from the encounters. People with selfish goals, especially when it comes to loot, usually lose their raid places quickly. If not some kind of formalized loot distribution system (like DKP) is used, epic loot is normally distributed on the basis what's best for the raids future success, and not what's optimal for an individual player. So be polite and don't put your personal goals over those of the whole raid (see the golden rule above). Progression Prior to the Burning Crusade, raiding began with a 10 man run to Upper Blackrock Spire. The only 'real' raid instances in the beginning were Onyxia and Molten Core (both designed for 40 players). After a few months, Blackwing Lair was released. In later patches easier 20-player raid instances were added to the game (Zul'Gurub and Ruins of Ahn'Qiraj). The line of 40 player instances was continued with the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj and finally Naxxramas. Nowadays, with level 70 and the expansion, the normal path of charater development is to play solo, do quests and 5 man instances all the way to level 70, and start running raids only then (starting with Karazhan). If interested in progression, the only remaining 40 man instance with meaningful drops is Naxxramas. Unfortunately, the bosses there require quite some skill, and cannot be easily killed by a "standard" group. The effort to organize a Naxx raid and learning the bosses is comparable to gaining access to Karazhan, the epic faction rewards and the 5 man heroics. Since the latter three give better rewards (and open up the path to the 25 man instances in Outland), hardly anybody goes to Naxx anymore. Still, the 40 man instances are run sometimes, but only for fun (or lack of something better to do). Timescale When soloing it is reasonable to expect a reward every 30 minutes or so (after solving a quest). In 5 man instances, it is normal to get about one good item per evening (2-3 hours). The interval between such "successes" in raids is measured in weeks. The 40 man instances reset once a week, so each boss can be killed only once in seven days. Assuming 10 bosses and two drops per boss, this yields 20 items per week, so every member of a 40 man raid can expect at most one item every two weeks. In reality, a wait time of one month or even more is much more realistic. Clearing Molten Core (i.e. from the very first pull until Ragnaros is down) in less than half a year is very fast (when the raid starts at lvl 60 with the usual mix of blue/green equipment). Hierarchy In a 5 or 10 man instance group, one group leader can do all the management necessary - one person can organize healing, crowd control and target assignment without there being much danger that something is forgotten or out of sync. In a raid the tasks are much more complicated and specialized, and sometimes require detailed knowledge of class (or build) capabilities, so that actually quite a lot of the management tasks get delegated to "officers", and the raid leader himself mainly focuses on keeping things synchronized. As all hierarchies, this structure can either be maintained out of necessity, because it makes things easier and better organized, or it can be used as a means of suppression. For newbies it's sometimes hard to distinguish these two forms. Normally each class should have one officer, and a separate chat channel where all issues specific to that class are discussed. The officers and the raid leader have another separate chat channel where strategy and synchronization are discussed. An exception is the healer channel - this one is usually not limited to priests, rather all healing classes (Druid, Shaman, Paladin) join it, and don't all have a separate channel of their own. Talent builds There are certain builds which make it easier to be accepted into a raid, and others for which it's more difficult. Traditionally (before Burning Crusade), all Hybrid classes were expected to heal. With the new talent trees, quite a few builds have become viable for raids, in particular shadow priests and tanking druids (which can easily shift to melee DPS) are very frequently seen. Some raids may go as far and demand very specific builds, others may be less strict. Most raiding guilds still expect Shamans and Paladins to be specced for healing, and Warriors should be able to tank (at least 15 points in Protection). As a new raider, a hybrid class should be up front with their raid leader about what they wish their role to be, and expect that the guild may not need that specific job filled (example, you want to be a DPS druid, but the guild really needs Resto). Either be willing to fit the role your guild needs, or be prepared to find another guild where you can function in the role that you wish to. Technical aspects Many guilds require certain UI mods or other utilities to be installed prior to allowing people to join their raids. Here's a list of some of the the most frequently used: *CT Raid Assist or Ace Ora2 - makes a raid leader's job a lot easier *Ventrilo or Teamspeak - speaking is that much easier than typing. If you don't have a mike, only listening is still very useful. *CT Boss Mod or Bigwigs - these mods help a lot on boss fights This list could be continued, and every raid leader will have their personal must-have list. Inform yourself and install the required stuff *before* you join your first raid. Behaviour Unless the task at hand is totally routine (e.g. the 20th MC run before the lava packs), chat should be kept to a minimum. Raids are not a good place to get to know the other members. There are too many people, and there's too little time. When it comes to tactics, newbies should really be careful and first try to understand how this particular raid works. Although on many bosses there are widely accepted strategies, some raids may do things different, and still have success. It is not a good idea to try to teach long term raid members things, justified as it may be. Discussions should not take place during a raid. If you have an issue with anything, catch the relevant officer later in /w or in some forum, not during the raid. In order to avoid problems be aware that raid or guild leaders and officers frequently behave arrogant or elitist. In most cases, this attitude is actually justified to some point, and serves as a means of self-protection. If approached in a polite and unpresuming way, even the most hard-ass leader type will prove that he can be friendly and helpful. Accordingly, the above advice about avoiding trying to teach other raid members or contradict them strongly applies always, even if you are absolutely right. A raid is a rather close-knit affair, and you have to earn some status yourself before you can successfully try to publicly challenge another raid member. Contradicting in public is likely to make you unpopular, and so therefore is never a good idea. Other methods to annoy the raid are predicting doom and failure before the pull even begins, or declaring "wipe" when just a few people are dead. Such behaviour is a good way to quickly lose a raiding spot. It is important for the success of the raid to stay positive, especially when learning new content. A good mantra is "Wiping is fun" (meditate about that - it really helps). Gearing and tactics in a raid The most universally significant aspect of fighting in a raid, is the increased value of +hit gear. Raid bosses are generally at +3 levels (73 for level 70 characters). Where as while fighting level 70 mobs and in heroic dungeons, you normally buff your character with +AP or Spell damage gear, raid bosses favor +hit or +spell hit rating. This creates a necessity to start collecting alternate gear sets even for DPS classes. Healing classes will have to focus on endurance, boss fights can last 10 minutes and longer. Many encounters also require certain resistances or high HP. The performance of the tank may be affected by such restratints. Assume for example that some battle requires the Main Tank to have alot of fire resistance. Fire resistance gear will not have the usual amounts of strength or agility. Even though the difference may seem small, in this situation the tank will generate less threat than usual. The miss chance also plays a role - its rather unlikely that a well geared tank will ever miss mobs of up to 2 levels higher than them, especially not consecutively. But as all raid bosses are 3 levels higher, and the tanks will need to select gear to maximize their survival, it is likely that they will stop generating threat for some period of time due to failed attacks. Thus all DPS classes have to be very careful, because even a single DPS player pulling aggro from the MT will very frequently result in a wipe. *Tanks: Must survive as long as possible. *DPS: Must be able to hit the target and produce damage on command, and must never draw aggro. *Healers: Must make their mana last the entire battle. *All: Learning positioning and timing. Wiping and Wipe recovery A "Wipe" happens when all members of the raid are dead. Part of the challenge of raiding is to recover from this and get moving again quickly. Warlock Soulstones, Paladin Divine Intervention, and Shaman Reincarnation all increase the speed at which the raid can get back on their feet, but mostly wipe recovery involves running back to the raid from the graveyard. Practised raid groups who can recover quickly from wipes are generally more successful than those that cannot. While learning a new encounter, wipes will happen every 15-20 minutes, thus in a 3 hour raid (assuming for 15 mins) a raid that takes 5 minutes to recover from a wipe will get 9 tries at the encounter, where as a raid that takes 15 minutes will only get 6. Loot The drops are usually distributed by a loot master during a raid. The loot rules are normally agreed on beforehand. Most raiding groups use some kind of formalized loot system. Drops which are of no immediate use (like Core Leather or the Nexus Crystals from disenchanted epics) usually go to the guild bank. Newbies need to be prudent once more, but don't despair - even if things look like you'll never get anything, you'll quickly find out that there are many items which nobody else wants to take, and thus you'll get decent gear quite fast. Of course, getting the top of the line drops takes much more... patience. Category:Newbies Category:Guides